December 2, 2009

Drawing Challenge

Emma and I have a longstanding tradition of giving each other "drawing challenges." The secret is, no one ever actually wins. Oh, maybe hers is deemed "cutest" or "best use of color" while mine is "best animal" or "funniest," but that's about it.

Years ago, when Emma was only six, we had a particularly memorable drawing challenge when, upon being asked to select a subject for our drawings, Emma immediately and nonchalantly proclaimed, "princess in a wheelchair," as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The notion of a princess in a wheelchair became an instant hit among my friends, and even resulted in a Meredith & Stephen collaboration: www.princessinawheelchair.com.

Drawing challenges have evolved over the years, and today's was "a comic." This is actually a double challenge because one must also invent a worthwhile story in addition to drawing it. I started doodling Sprout, my muse. As often happens, Emma abandoned her own comic (a drawing of a pencil captioned: "who ya callin' pencil head?!") to direct assist me in my drawing challenge. She pitched ideas, and I brought them to life with my limited illustration skills. May I present, an original Emmordan comic strip: A Day in the Life aka Home Alone.